A day after it took control of the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital, the Israeli military on Thursday afternoon was still searching the site that Israel has said concealed a secret Hamas base, and to bolster its case offered video of more weapons it said it had found there and what it described as a tunnel entrance.
The images presented by Israel from the hospital, Al-Shifa, in Gaza City, could not be independently verified, and still have not proven the existence of the sprawling Hamas operation that it said the hospital concealed.
But Israeli officials said the search was bound to be slow, citing the physical difficulties and the risks. They added that Hamas had plenty of warning that Israeli forces were coming and time to remove evidence. In an apparent attempt to rebuff skepticism of the evidence released thus far, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military, said Thursday evening at a news briefing that troops were searching the hospitals, building by building, sometimes while under fire.
“This is a complex activity that needs time in order to most importantly ensure our forces’ security, and then operational success,” he said. “In Shifa, Rantisi, Al-Quds and other hospitals, we are finding Hamas activity aboveground and underneath it. This is no coincidence — this is Hamas’s method.”
Since invading Gaza 20 days ago, Israel has presented Al-Shifa as one of its primary targets, saying it sits atop a network of subterranean fortifications installed by Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that controlled the entire territory until the invasion began. Hamas and the hospital leadership have denied the accusations.
The claim that Hamas operated from within the sprawling hospital complex has been central to Israel’s defense of the death toll caused by its military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 11,000 people, according to Gazan health officials. Israeli officials say that the extreme loss of life has been caused in part by Hamas’s decision to hide its military fortifications and command centers inside civilian infrastructure like Al-Shifa.
One of the videos released on Thursday by the Israeli military showed a white pickup truck on the hospital grounds and, laid out on the ground near it, the arsenal the narrator said had been its contents: automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition magazines, hand grenades and other gear.
Another video shows excavated earth and a doorway into an underground passage, which The New York Times has confirmed is at the northern perimeter of the sprawling hospital complex. Israeli forces appear to have destroyed a small structure and dug up an extensive area to uncover the opening, an analysis of satellite imagery and video shows.
On Wednesday, the military released video showing about a dozen guns, a grenade, protective vests and military uniforms that it said soldiers had found within an M.R.I. unit at the hospital.
At a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday, Osama Hamdan, a Hamas spokesman, called that video “a weak and ridiculous narration.” Mr. Hamdan accused Israel of planting the weaponry to show a militant presence at the hospital.
Israel’s ability to prove its claim could determine whether its foreign allies continue to support its military response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. White House officials have said they believe, based on intelligence gathered independently of Israeli sources, that Hamas used the hospital as a base.
Israel received broad international support after the Hamas-led raid killed roughly 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials. But as the Israeli counterattack has dragged on, devastating much of Gaza, there have been signs that allies were beginning to take a more nuanced position.
The United Nations Security Council called on Wednesday for immediate, dayslong pauses in the fighting to allow more aid to reach civilians. The United States — a key ally that often vetoes U.N. statements critical of Israel — abstained from voting on the resolution, allowing it to pass.
“The occupation resorted to this farce to cover up the fall of its alleged story,” Mr. Hamdan added.
He said Israeli troops had “terrorized the patients and detained them in a barbaric manner,” and accused them of “destroying the medicine warehouse and disabling the M.R.I. machine.”
On Oct. 27, the day that its forces invaded Gaza, the Israeli military published a map of the site that suggested Hamas was operating four underground complexes beneath the hospital’s internal medicine department, its chest and dialysis department, its M.R.I. department and a rest area at its western edge. The map also suggested that Hamas ran a command center at or near the hospital’s outpatient clinic.
The army has not yet presented evidence publicly that any of those five sites exist. It did say in a statement that soldiers had found an aboveground command center in the M.R.I. unit, without providing further evidence. Hamas dismissed the assertion as “a fabricated story that no one would believe.”
A spokesman for the Israeli military, Maj. Nir Dinar, said that Israel needed more time to find and present evidence.
“It takes time because Hamas knew we were coming, and they’ve tried to hide evidence of their war crimes,” Major Dinar said. “They’ve messed up the scene, they’ve brought in sand to cover some of the floors, and they’ve created double walls.”
Hwaida Saad, Aric Toler and Malachy Browne contributed reporting.
In the aftermath of taking control of the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military continued its search for a secret Hamas base within the facility. Israel provided video evidence of additional weapons and a tunnel entrance that it claims were found in the hospital. However, the authenticity of these images cannot be independently verified.
Israeli officials acknowledged that the search would be slow due to physical difficulties and risks. They noted that Hamas had ample time to remove evidence before Israeli forces arrived. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military, defended the evidence presented so far and stated that troops were conducting thorough searches of the hospitals, even under fire.
Al-Shifa hospital has been a primary target for Israel since its invasion of Gaza began. Israel alleges that the hospital conceals a network of subterranean fortifications built by Hamas. Both Hamas and the hospital leadership have denied these accusations.
This claim by Israel is crucial to its justification of the high death toll from its military campaign in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of over 11,000 people, according to Gazan health officials. Israeli officials argue that Hamas’s decision to hide military infrastructure in civilian areas, such as Al-Shifa hospital, has contributed to the significant loss of life.
Israel released videos showing weapons and an underground passage near the hospital. However, a Hamas spokesman accused Israel of planting the weaponry to falsely demonstrate a militant presence at the hospital.
The ability of Israel to substantiate its claim could impact the support it receives from foreign allies for its military response to Hamas’s attack on Israel. The United Nations Security Council recently called for temporary ceasefires to allow more aid to reach civilians in Gaza. The United States, usually a staunch ally of Israel, abstained from voting on the resolution.
Hamas has accused Israeli troops of mistreating patients, detaining them in a barbaric manner, and damaging the hospital’s facilities.
Although the Israeli military published a map suggesting that Hamas operated underground complexes beneath various departments of the hospital, no public evidence has been presented to support this claim. Hamas dismissed the assertion as a fabricated story.
Israel’s spokesman, Maj. Nir Dinar, stated that more time is needed to find and present evidence, claiming that Hamas attempted to hide evidence of their war crimes within the hospital.
Hwaida Saad, Aric Toler, and Malachy Browne contributed to this report from Jerusalem.